Messages from the President

Dear WWU Community,

During the 2020-21 academic year, in consultation with the Board of Trustees, I appointed a Legacy Review Task Force to examine the history and significance of building and college names on Western’s Bellingham campus with a charge to reconcile the institution’s contemporary commitment to equity, inclusion and social justice with…

Dear WWU Staff,

Recently, the President’s Cabinet met to review evolving guidance from Gov. Inslee for the safe reopening of the state’s college campuses now that COVID-19 hospitalization and infection rates are rapidly declining. As of this week, about 60% of people in Washington 12 years or older are fully vaccinated, and we’re encouraged by the steady increase in Western’s reported student and employee vaccination rates…

Over the course of the past year and throughout the public health crisis, Western’s faculty and staff have done an excellent job in delivering on the mission of the university and demonstrating incredible adaptability. I am appreciative of our employees’ commitment to our students and community. This particular communication pertains to compensation for professional staff.

As you’ll recall, the…

Dear WWU Faculty & Staff,

In a year that has been unlike any other we have ever experienced, I am very grateful for how our students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters have responded. 

We managed the human, social and economic dimensions of the past year quite well and we delivered on our mission as best as we could,…

Dear Western Community,

On Juneteenth 2020, the Black Student Organization (BSO) delivered a set of demands to the Associated Students executive board and to university administration.  At the time, we acknowledged that we can and must do more to…

As I have shared with you recently, we are in the process of establishing an institutional-level Office of Equity, with the more formal change intended with the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, 2021. Establishing this office honors the many voices who have been speaking for some time about the need to build central ADEI leadership into our organizational…

Dear WWU Community,

After careful consideration and assessing the direction taken by several public and private universities both within Washington state and nationally, Western will require COVID vaccinations for students, faculty, and staff before returning to campus for the fall 2021 quarter.  This decision was…

Dear WWU Community,

We know the gradual reopening of our society and our campuses brings with it a new set of anxieties and challenges, in some ways more complex than the sudden shift to remote work and instruction last March. We also know that getting vaccinated is a major step forward in our battle to control the COVID-19 virus, especially now that…

Dear Western Community,

Today the jury in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer accused of murdering George Floyd, found him guilty on all counts.  Like many of you, I have followed the trial closely and with some apprehension, and today we breathe a collective sigh of relief that the verdict has brought justice to Mr. Floyd and his family and affirmed the voices…

Dear Western Community,

I am pleased to announce that Joyce Lopes will join Western Washington University as our new Vice President for Business & Financial Affairs effective July 1.  Joyce currently serves as Vice President of Administrative Affairs at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, in California’s Sonoma Valley, a position she has held for nearly four years.  …